Indian Ocean Rado for doping-free sport in the region |06 September 2013

At the third international conference of ministers and senior officials responsible for physical education and sport (MINEPS III) in Uruguay in December 1999, ministers expressed concern over unethical behaviour, in particular doping in sport, and urged all countries to take concerted action. So the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) responded to calls from the international community in developing the international convention against doping in sport.

A decision was later made at the 32nd session of the Unesco general conference in January 2003 to tackle the question of doping in sport through an international convention. The convention was drafted after consultations and meetings among representatives of nearly 100 countries and adopted on October 19, 2005. It came into force on February 1, 2007. It is the most successful convention in the history of Unesco in terms of speed of development and entry into force. To date, over 170 countries including Seychelles, have ratified the convention.

 Seychelles is a member of theRegional Anti-Doping Organisations (Rado) based on the five continents – Africa, Asia, Oceania, Americas, and Europe. All Rados have a board of members. These members are nominated jointly by the government and the National Olympic Committee of their respective countries. The board has a chairman and an administrator who is also the secretary. For the Indian Ocean region, the chairman is from the Comoros and the administrator from Seychelles.

 www.nation.sc contacted the administrator and board member (representing Seychelles), Jean Larue to shed more light on what the Indian Ocean Rado is all about.

 The Indian Ocean Rado was set up in 2008 and its head office is based in Victoria, Mahé Seychelles.
Its regional and worldwide objectives are to coordinate, manage and implement doping-free sport programmes in a specific region. Member countries pool financial resources and expertise to implement quality anti-doping programmes that comply with the World Anti-Doping code. Countries with geographic and cultural ties join efforts towards sustainable anti-doping programmes.

“Currently the Indian Ocean Rado has an administrator. The new strategy and direction is to have a full-time manager to take on new and more responsibilities in the fight against doping in sports.  The managers will coordinate and plan doping controls and tests in the region, manage doping control officers (DCO), manage and coordinate therapeutic use exemption result management (TUE RM), develop and implement educational programmes and projects (Outreach) and most importantly is to work in Adams (Anti-Doping Administration & Management System) computer programmes. Adams is a web-based database management system that simplifies the daily activities of all stakeholders and athletes involved in the anti-doping system,” said Mr Larue.

He said that that Adams is available in English, French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Russian, Italian, Dutch, Chinese, Korean and Arabic. Not only is Adams easy to use, it is also free for Wada’s stakeholders, allowing them to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the fight against doping in sport. Adams’ multi-level access system protects the security and confidentiality of data.

“Adams is a clearing house where all data can be stored, in particular laboratory results, therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) and information on anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs). It facilitates the sharing of information among relevant organisations and promotes efficiency, transparency and effectiveness in all anti-doping activities,” continued Mr Larue.

Adams addresses the key activities of anti-doping operations through its functions:

Athlete whereabouts

The web-based functionality allows athletes to comply with the whereabouts rules of their sport by entering their information from anywhere in the world. Additionally, Adams supports the delegation of this responsibility to an authorised representative such as team manager, agent or other third party. This functionality also helps anti-doping organisations share whereabouts information, crucial for supporting athletes so that they do not need to enter their whereabouts more than once via multiple means. Athletes can also modify their whereabouts through the use of SMS messaging to Adams.

TUE management

Adams facilitates online management of TUE requests, as well as online notification to those involved in the process. TUE information is shared with all and only relevant parties, thus for the athlete one submission is all that is necessary. Upon approval of the TUE, Adams also provides the athletes the option to print their certificate of approval for their records.

Test planning & results management

The Adams doping control database provided to ADOs is an essential tool for managing both in- and out-of-competition doping control programmes. Stakeholders can use Adams to plan, coordinate and order tests, as well as to manage test results. Coordination of doping control programmes in the Adams system helps to avoid duplication of testing efforts and harmonises communications between testing authorities, sample collection agencies as well as Wada-accredited laboratories.

Lab results module

Wada-accredited laboratories use Adams to submit test results to the appropriate authorities including Wada. In this way, results management organisations are notified of results promptly and clearly and Wada is automatically engaged to ensure transparency in all results management processes.

Adams was launched in 2005 for the initial pilot phase. The system has since then been introduced and implemented by most anti-doping organisations and all Wada-accredited anti-doping laboratories.

 All Rados have trained local experts in the following areas:

“There are currently 15 Rados in 119 countries worldwide. In the case of the Indian Ocean Rado, members are from Djibouti, Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles,” said Jean Larue.

 There 15 Rados are:

1. Caribbean Rado
2. Central America Rado
3. Eastern Europe Rado
4. Indian Ocean Rado
5. South Asia Rado
6. Gulf States and Yemen Rado
7. Africa Zone I Rado
8. Africa Zone II & III Rado
9. Africa Zone IV Rado
10. Africa Zone V Rado
11. South East Asia Rado
12. Oceania Rado
13. Africa Zone VI Rado
14. West Asia Rado
15. Central Asia Rado

 Rados can help international federations, major event organisations and other stakeholders with:

1. In-competition and out-of-competition testing utilising a global network of qualified doping control officers
2. Therapeutic use exemptions (TUE) through trained and functioning TUE committees.
3. Results management and appeals through regional expert panels.
4. Education and awareness, using local languages and personnel to deliver anti-doping messages
5. All Rados have trained local experts in the above areas.

Penalties

Here in Seychelles doping tests are conducted in and out of competition at anytime and anywhere.

It is not the responsibility of Rado to be on the fields when the tests are being conducted. This is the responsibility of doping control officers (DCOs). If athletes are found positive they are sanctioned as per Wada’s rules.

First violation: At a minimum, a reprimand and no ban from future events, and at a maximum, two year-ban. Refusing or failing to submit to sample collection or for tampering with doping control, the banned period shall be two years unless the conditions provided otherwise proven.

For violations of Articles 2.7 (trafficking or attempted trafficking) or 2.8 (administration or attempted administration of prohibited substance or prohibited method), the period of ineligibility imposed shall be a minimum of four years up to lifetime ineligibility unless the conditions provided in Article 10.5 are

met. An anti-doping rule violation involving a minor shall be considered a particularly serious violation and, if committed by athlete support personnel for violations other than specified substances referenced in Article 4.2.2, shall result in lifetime ineligibility for athlete support personnel. In addition,

significant violations of Articles 2.7 or 2.8 which may also violate non-sporting laws and regulations, shall be reported to the competent administrative, professional or judicial authorities.

Whereas filing failures and/or missed tests), the period of ban shall be a minimum one year and at a maximum two years based on the athlete’s degree of fault.

Where an athlete or other person can establish how a specified substance entered his or her body or came into his or her possession and that such substance was not intended to enhance the athlete’s sport performance or mask the use of a performance-enhancing substance, the period of ban found shall be replaced with the following: First violation: At a minimum, a reprimand and no ban period from future events, and at a maximum, two year-ban.

Everything you need to know about Rado is all in there or connect to http://www.wada-ama.org!